Family Horror
by harryHEARTginny
Summary: Lily Potter is the daughter of the Great Harry Potter. What happens when for the first time since she was a live Harry goes missing on a mission? How will she deal? What if Harry doesn't return?


Lily sat in the Gryffindor common room staring out the window at the lake. Currently Lily is in her sixth year at Hogwarts with loads of homework that she should be doing right now, but she just couldn't find the focus to do so, she was too distracted, and the letter she currently held in her hand had everything to do with it. She had received it during lunch, but hadn't hand the time to open it until recently when she returned to the common room from Charms. The letter was from her mother and read:

_Dear Lily,_

_ I wish I was writing simply to ask how you are, but regretfully I am not. Dad is missing. He was on a routine mission with Uncle Ron and they were attacked. Uncle Ron is alright, but he can't remember what happened, all he remembers was being ambushed before being knocked out and waking up in the middle of the forest they had been searching. I cannot give you all the details in a letter, but know that Uncle Ron and the Ministry are doing the best they can to find him. I have sent an owl the Headmaster as well, asking that if Dad is not found by Saturday that you can come home, Easter Break starts next week anyway, so you won't be missing much school._

_Be strong,_

_Love Mum._

This is something Lily had always feared, but I had never had to deal with. She knew from stories that Dad had once been trapped by a criminal and ended up in critical condition in the hospital for a short time, but that had been a long time ago, Mum had been pregnant with James at the time. Lily's Dads job had always scared her; she knew that it put him in constant danger, but people had always told her not to worry, he was Harry Potter, and that he'd be fine. But she knew better than to think that just because her Dad was Harry Potter he was undefeatable. Sure, no one had managed to kill him yet, not even Voldemort, but it only takes one time, and her Dad would be gone for good.

Lily read over the letter again for the tenth time, hoping that her mind was playing a terrible trick on her and that the contents of the letter were something more jovial. Unfortunately her mind was not playing tricks on her, and the words on the parchment were there in truth. Sighing, Lily closed her eyes and rested her head in her hands, trying to clear her mind of all thought, but it didn't work, never had, her mind was just too active. So, she just sat in her chair and tried to be strong like her mother told her to. It had never been so hard for Lily Potter to be strong. She had grown up as the daughter of Harry Potter, The Conquer, and Ginny Weasley, star chaser for the Holyhead harpies, therefore had learned how to handle the press at a very young age, along with her two older brothers. She was also a Seeker on the Gryffindor quidditch team and had had her share of injuries. But thought of possibly losing her father made her limbs fell weak and unable to support the lightest of weights.

Lily had always been close to her dad, especially during the two school years when she was the only Potter kid at home. He would always fly and play quidditch with her, take her to Diagon Alley for ice cream, tell her stories, and brush her long red hair for her before bed.

"Lily?"

The familiar voice brought Lily out of her thoughts. She looked up to see the concerned face of Reed. Reed had been friends with Lily since their first year, and was tied with Hugo as her best friend.

"Hugo told me about your dad. Do you want to talk about it?"

It took Lily a while to figure out what she wanted, but Reed sat and patiently waited for her to decide. "I always knew that this was a possibility, I always knew about the dangers that came with Dad's job, but I guess that though I always knew that it _could _happen, I never really thought that it _would_. Does that make any sense?"

Reed knelt in front of her gently covering the hand with his. "Of course it does. We always hear of bad and horrible things happening to other people, but we never think that they could happen to us, its human nature."

"I just can't imagine life without Dad, he's always been there." Reed squeezed her hand and it gave Lily a surprising amount of comfort.

"Well you don't know for sure what has happened to him, right? There is just as much of a chance that he might be alright as that he might not be."

Reed had never been someone to sugar coat hard truths. Some people might say that he was inconsiderate, but Lily was grateful for this quality, she had always hated it when people tried to make things seem better than they actually were, creating false hopes.

Lily talked to Reed for over an hour, telling him about her thoughts, her feelings, and worries, Reed listened intently, speaking only when he thought his words would truly bring her comfort, and never prying her to say more.

It had been Wednesday when Lily had received the sorrowful letter from her mother, meaning she had to attend two days of classes before she was allowed to go home. Never had two days been so long and agonizing. She simply could not focus on what the professors were saying, but they seemed to understand and left her alone to her thoughts in the back of the classroom. When she walked down the halls in between classes she was subjected to the whispers of her classmates, though she found this easy to ignore. From the moment she had read the letter, Lily had found that her appetite had disappeared, but Reed and her cousins seemed intent on making sure that she ate, bringing pieces of toast and rolls up to her in the common room from the Great Hall, not letting her leave for her dorm until she had eaten at least some of what they had brought for her.

By the time Friday night came around Lily had her trunk packed and was ready to leave for home first thing in the morning. She currently was sitting in the Common Room with Reed and her cousins; Hugo, Molly, and Lucy. Molly was a year older than Lily and Lucy was a year younger they are her Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey's kids. The four of them were the only Weasley grandkids still in Hogwarts. They didn't really say much as they sat, there was nothing to say. Lily would be leaving in the morning to wait with her family to hear whether or not her father was alive, it was painful to think about, but it was the truth.

Lily ended up falling asleep on the couch in front of the fire and when she woke up she saw that Hugo and Reed had stayed down there with her, one of them covering her with a blanket while she slept. As soon as she was conscious enough Lily silently got up, trying her best not to wake up her friend and cousin, and went up to her dorm to retrieve her trunk. It was only six thirty in the morning, so naturally her roommates were still asleep. When Lily returned to the common room she saw that both Hugo and Reed were awake, yawning and stretching.

"There you are, Lily," Hugo said sleepily, wiping sleep from his eyes.

"I hope you don't mind sleeping on the couch. We were going to wake you, but decided to just let you sleep." Reed explained.

"I don't mind," Lily replied glumly, heaving her trunk by the portrait hole. "That was the most sleep I got in two nights."

When eight o'clock came by Lily made her way with Reed and Hugo to the head of Gryffindor, Professor Beasley's office, Hugo was carrying Lily's trunk for her. Once they reached the Professors office Lily knock lightly on the door. Moments later Professor Beasley opened the door, "Miss Potter, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Heaton, come in." Professor Beasley was a man few words, and could sometimes appear to be quite stand-offish, but he was kind and generous as well. He let them into his office and led them to the fireplace. "I give you my deepest empathy, Miss Potter, and hope to see you next term."

Lily nodded in recognition of his sentiment.

"Now, I will leave you to say goodbye. Can I trust you boys lock the door behind you as soon as you leave?"

"Yes sir," Hugo answered. With that the Professor left the room.

No one had much to say, nothing important anyone. So, the boys hugged Lily, said a quiet goodbye and watched her drag her trunk into the green flames, and disappear.

Lily stumbled a bit as she fell out the fireplace and into the living room of her childhood home. Before she could even gain her bearings Lily felt her mother's warm embrace around her.

"Mum…" Lily choked as tears began to roll down her cheeks. It was the first time she had cried over the news she had received two days ago and it hurt to do so, but it also felt good.

"Shh…," Ginny lulled, running her hand over Lily's long red hair and rubbing small circles on her back.

Lily cried in her mother's arms for quite some time before finally sniffling and wiping her eyes dry. "Where are James and Albus?"

"They are at the Ministry helping out with the search; they should be back soon though."

"Why aren't you at the Ministry too?" Lily thought it strange that her mother wouldn't be doing something more productive at a time like this; she was never one to sit and do nothing when things got tough.

"I will be going during the night when your brothers are home to be with you."

"Why can't I help? I want to find dad too." Really Lily hadn't thought about this much, but suddenly there was nothing she wanted to do more than help and find her father.

Ginny looked down on her with pity and sorrow in her eyes. "Lily I can't let you do that, you're too young to-"

"How can you, of all people say that I am too young? You were my age when you fought in the Battle of Hogwarts, a year younger when you fought at the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, and _two_ years younger when you fought at the Battle of the Department of Mysteries!"

Ginny was not bothered by her daughter's outburst, but took a deep breath and gently explained, "Yes, Lily I did fight in those battles but thing could have turned out a lot worse. I broke my ankle at the Department of Mysteries, had the advantage of Felix Felicis at the Astronomy Tower, and I fought during the Battle of Hogwarts against my parents wishes and could have easily been killed at any given time if it weren't for the help of my family and friends, and later the protection of your father and grandma."

Lily thought about what her mother had just said and understood, but still didn't want to be forced stay at home doing nothing, while the rest of her family was out there, doing something to help find her dad. "Isn't there anything I could do?"

Ginny closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. She looked exhausted; Lily guessed that she had probably gotten less sleep than she had. "I don't know Lily. If you like I will ask Uncle Ron when I go to the Ministry tonight, but I'm not promising you anything…understand?"

"Yes Mum," Lily nodded and hugged her mother, "Thank-you."

"Why don't we bring your trunk up to your room and get unpacked, your brothers will be home for lunch.

After Ginny had helped Lily bring her trunk up to her room she left, sensing that Lily wanted to be on her own for a while. Once Lily was alone in her room she flopped down on her bed and stared blankly at her ceiling. She felt like her head was going to explode with all of the thoughts and feelings bouncing around. From the corner of her eye Lily noticed the wireless sitting on her bookshelf, pulling out her wand she turned it on to her favorite station and turned up the volume. Closing her eyes Lily tried to focus on the music and the words of one of her favorite songs, effectively blocking out her disturbing thoughts, if only for a little while.


End file.
